Philippe Paradis' trade from Rockford to the Syracuse Crunch last month brought him more than a new address.

It also altered his on-ice identity.

Paradis wore No. 11 in Rockford, but on the Crunch that number belongs to Alex Hutchings. Paradis wanted to try No. 63, which he had worn in juniors, but his frame of reference told him that was a longshot. Most hockey teams frown on the awarding of numbers higher than 40 or so, especially to young, unaccomplished prospects.

"I was like, do you guys have a rule? They were like, no,'' Paradis said. "It was 63, for sure.''

Paradis had joined the right organization when it comes to numerical freedom of expression. Tampa Bay's sole rule in handing out its minor-league numbers is the rather pragmatic guideline that it not already belong to someone else.

That's a straight-forward but rare rationale in the business. Hockey is the ultimate conformist's sport, one that usually discourages the flashy visual separation suggested by numbers higher than 40 or 50.

You want a high "vanity'' number? Go become a hall of famer like Wayne Gretzky (99) or Mario Lemieux, then we'll talk.

"My own personal thought is that the vanity number, there are a couple of players who have earned that right,'' said Bob Ferguson, assistant general manager of the Norfolk Admirals and former AGM of the Crunch. "It's a little bit out of control. Establish yourself, then you might get the opportunity to pick your number. Until you establish yourself, take the number you are given, and be happy you have a number.''

The Syracuse roster is a hockey purist's nightmare. The team has more outside-the-box numbers than almost any other in the AHL, and likely more than the combined Crunch roster in the first 18 seasons of the team's history.

Syracuse Crunch rookie forward Tanner Richard wears No. 71 because that was the slot where Tampa Bay grabbed him in the 2012 draft.Kevin Rivoli | krivoli@syracuse.com

"It's only a number, I don't think there's anything bad about it,'' said Devos, who took 88 because 8 was his number in youth hockey. "I don't think that it matters, or someone cares. You have to make the number. It's not the number is going to make you play well.''

Among AHL teams, only Hamilton and Rochester have five skaters with such eye-catching digits. Hamilton's ranges from 53-58 while Rochester goes from 72-92.

Before this season - Syracuse's first as Tampa Bay's affiliate - such combinations were rare on the back of Crunch jerseys as former parent teams Vancouver, Columbus and Anaheim took a more toned-down approach,

During the Canucks era popular Syracuse defenseman Scott Walker sported 55 during his second tenure with the Crunch because it was a repetitive replica of his original number here, 5. Columbus then loosened up a little, allowing Andy Delmore 55, Fedor Fedorov 81, Nikita Filatov 90 and Mike York 78.

"We look at the experience of the player, what his history has been, and go from there,'' said Columbus assistant GM Chris MacFarland, who previously oversaw the Crunch when the Blue Jackets were affiliated with that team.

But there were extenuating circumstances with the Crunch's high numbers in the Blue Jackets era. Fedor's brother was hockey legend Sergei Fedorov, so that connection might have played a part in the rule-bending.

Filatov was a highly rated prospect whom the Blue Jackets went out of their way to mollify. And York and Delmore were NHL veterans when they played for Syracuse, ones that fit the definition of a player who had earned the right to pick his number.

The Crunch's current high-number players are much more pragmatic in their approaches to the distinctive look. Witkowski, a rookie out of Western Michigan, wore 28 at that school. Brett Connolly enjoys that number in Syracuse, so Witkowski just flipped it around.

"That was the only reason I wanted it, because it was the reverse,'' Witkowski said. "If they had told me I needed a lower number, I wouldn't have cared. I would have taken a lower number.''

Richard, a rookie forward,. wore 27 in juniors. Syracuse defenseman Evan Oberg has that locked up now. So Richard turned to his draft slot in the 2012 draft - No. 71 overall.